Stocks shed early gain as Boeing and other industrials slide

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks are slipping Monday after an early gain evaporated. Boeing and other industrial companies gave back some of the ground they won on Friday. Banks are also lower, while technology companies continue to rise. Stocks are coming off their biggest gain in a month following a monthly jobs report that showed strong hiring and moderate growth in wages.

Keeping score: The S&P 500 index fell 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,782 as of 11:10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 113 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,222. The Nasdaq composite added 15 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,576. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks was unchanged at 1,596.

The Nasdaq closed at a record high Friday thanks to a surge for technology companies. The S&P 500 is at its highest since Feb. 1. That means it has recovered the losses it suffered following the government’s January jobs report, which showed a surprise spike in hourly wages. Wall Street worried that that might be the start of faster inflation.

The February jobs report, which came out on Friday, eased investors’ minds, and stocks made their biggest gain in a month.

All eyes on tech: Optical communications company Oclaro surged after it agreed to be bought by optical networking company Lumentum Holdings. The deal values Oclaro at $9.99 a share, or $1.69 billion, and its stock gained $2.10, or 26.7 percent, to $9.95. Lumentum also rose $4.33, or 6.3 percent, to $73.30.

Late Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that Intel might try to buy rival Broadcom. Broadcom is trying to buy a third chipmaker, Qualcomm, for $117 billion, and the Journal said that if that deal appears to be moving forward, Intel will consider respondes that could include an attempt to buy Broadcom. It could also attempt a smaller deal.

Broadcom jumped $7.78, or 3.1 percent, to $261.56 while Intel fell $1.09, or 2.1 percent, to $51.11. Qualcomm dipped 53 cents to $62.50.

Other tech companies climbed as well. Apple advanced $1.79, or 1 percent, to $181.77 and chipmaker Micron Technology jumped $4.57, or 8.4 percent, to $59.16.

Down industrials: Industrial companies like aerospace and defense firms fell after a big gain on Friday. Boeing shed $7.54, or 2.1 percent, to $346.98 and Lockheed Martin lost $6.41, or 1.9 percent, to $334.08. Construction equipment maker Caterpillar dipped $2.36, or 1.56 percent, to $155.89.

Change at the top: Goldman Sachs said David Solomon will become its sole president and chief operating officer, clearing the way for Solomon to become the firm’s next CEO. Solomon and Harvey Schwartz had shared both job titles, but the company says Schwartz will retire next month. Last week the Wall Street Journal said CEO Lloyd Blankfein could retire as soon as the end of this year, and that Solomon and Schwartz were the only two candidates to replace him.

Goldman’s stock gained $1.83 to $272.60.

DowDuPont gained 3 cents to $72.26 after the company said CEO Andrew Liveris will depart in July. He ran Dow Chemical for 14 years up through its combination with DuPont last year. Liveris planned to retire by mid-2017, but that was delayed as the company looked for a new head of its materials science business. The company said Jeff Fettig will become its new chairman.

DowDuPont ultimately plans to break up into three companies.

Batteries included: Johnson Controls climbed early on after it said it will consider selling its power solutions business, which makes batteries for vehicles among other products. That business brought in $7.3 billion in revenue in the company’s latest fiscal year, while Johnson Controls got more than $22 billion in adjusted revenue from its main business, which makes heating and ventilation systems for buildings and other systems.

The stock rose as much as 2.5 percent, but later traded down 1 cent to $38.53.

Energy: Benchmark U.S. crude declined 74 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $61.30 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 76 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $64.73 a barrel in London.

Bonds: Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 2.88 percent from 2.90 percent.

Currency: The dollar slid to 106.46 yen from 106.77 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.2310 from $1.2313.

Overseas: The German DAX rose 0.5 percent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.2 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.6 percent and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong jumped 1.9 percent. The Kospi in South Korea gained 1 percent.